The weekend that ends, Sunday April 3, may correspond to a turning point in the war in Ukraine. On the one hand, the Ukrainian authorities assured that all the occupied localities around kyiv had been “freed from the invader”. On the other hand, Ukraine and its allies are alarmed at “possible war crimes” in Boutcha, while the corpses of civilians were found in this locality near kyiv.
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Russia, for its part, denounces a staging in Boutcha and rejects the numerous accusations made against it. Franceinfo summarizes the highlights of the day.
The Kyiv region was “liberated from the invader”
Ukraine announced on Saturday that the entire Kyiv region was now “freed from the invader”Russian forces operating a “quick withdrawal” from the north of the country, but for better “keep control” from “vast territories” they occupy in the east and south.
As the Russian troops withdraw as announced from the regions of kyiv and Cherniguiv (north), the Ukrainian forces have been able to retake dozens of localities, devastated by the fighting: “Irpin, Boutcha, Gostomel and the whole Kyiv region were liberated from the invader”said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar. According to Ukrainian prosecutor Iryna Venediktova, 410 bodies of civilians were found in these localities.
kyiv denounces the Russian “tortures” in Boutcha, Moscow denies
Among the liberated towns is Butcha, northwest of kyiv, where nearly 300 people had to be buried “in mass graves”, told AFP its mayor, Anatoly Fedorouk. An AFP journalist saw the bodies of at least twenty men in civilian clothes there. One of them with his hands tied behind his back, next to an open Ukrainian passport lying on the ground.
Ukraine on Sunday accused the Russian military of committing a “deliberate massacre” in Boutcha, a town northwest of kyiv, as well as other “horrors”. For Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian leaders are responsible for the “murders” and the “torture” perpetrated in this locality, even evoking “genocide”.
Russia, she denounces a Ukrainian staging. The Russian Ministry of Defense denied having carried out “violent actions” against civilians in this locality near kyiv and accused the Ukrainian authorities of having fabricated “all published photos and videos”.
The UN and the allies of Ukraine are alarmed by “possible war crimes” in Boutcha
The condemnation of the crimes perpetrated in Boutcha was unanimous. In turn, Washington, Paris, Berlin or London have denounced the “atrocities”even the “war crimes” committed in this locality northwest of kyiv.
In Geneva, the UN considered that the discovery of the bodies in Boutcha raised “serious questions about possible war crimes”. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said “deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Boutcha”in the kyiv region, where many bodies were discovered after the departure of the Russian forces. “It is essential that an independent investigation makes it possible to render accounts” to officials, he added in a brief statement.
More than half a million people have returned to Ukraine since February 24
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry announced on Sunday 3 April that 500,000 people had returned to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion. “Over the past week, 144,000 people left Ukraine and 88,000 arrived there. In total, about 537,000 of our compatriots returned to Ukraine”he said in a statement, citing data from the National Border Service.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for its part recorded on Saturday more than four million (4,176,401) Ukrainians who had left for abroad since the outbreak of the conflict on February 24, i.e. 38,559 more than at the previous score the day before. Europe has not seen such a flood of refugees since the Second World War.